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Nationalsocialistisk Ungdom (NSU) - Danish National socialist Youth

NSU [Nationalsocialistisk Ungdom – National Socialist Youth] was initially formed in October 1932 after the parent party DNSAP [Dansk Nationalsocialistisk Arbejder Parti – Danish Nationalsocialist Workers Party] was reorganized. The party members who were under 18 years were separated from the SA in an organization for themselves. The organization was called the Nationalsocialistisk Ungdom. Actually there was only one branch in Copenhagen and after only a month, they left DNSAP, with DNSAP’s Copenhagen leader Wilfred Petersen, who started his own Nazi party.

The former Copenhagen branch continued its activities in Wilfred Petersen's National Socialist Party [NSP] under the name of NSU, and there existed at this time two organizations with the same name – DNSAP’s only on paper.

1 September 1934 NSU was started up again by Carl Christian Blangsted Stender, who along with DNSAPs first leader Cay Lembcke was one of the pioneers in the Danish scouting movement. The first year they used name “Danske Drenge” [Danish boys] to avoid confusion with Wilfred Petersen’s NSU. In 1936 they changed the name back to the National Socialist Youth [NSU]. The first years the organization only had a few members and seen fron outside, NSU most of all reminds of a scouting movement.

NSU was from the beginning designed to school the National Socialist youth under 18 years to be good national socialist citizens. When NSU members was 18 years old, SA stood ready to take over the upbringing. The political education was still not nearly as pronounced as it became later.

Up through the 1930’es the organization developes itself. Like in SA, NSU became a parallel organization to DNSAP with its own uniforms and their own symbol, the Sunwheel. In the beginning they used , on a large scale, the methods of Scouting. But this changed, when an officer in the Royal Life, Guards Christian Frederik von Schalburg on 15 January 1939 was appointed to national youth leader [Landsungdomsfører] in NSU. With his entry into the organization, NSUgot its own organization plan and the organization changed its nature from a scouting movement to military preparation, with inclusion of NSU members in the Waffen SS, as an important purpose.

Like the Hitler Youth in Germany, DNSAP took the upbringing of the Nazi youth with great seriousness. Youth is the future. After Germany attacked the Soviet Union, presure on the the young people started to make them join the Waffen-SS in the fight against communism. Many NSU members followed the appeals and many joined the Waffen-SS.

C.F. von Schalburg is on paper, national youth leader up to his death on 2 June 1942 In two long periods of time as national youth leader, he was elsewhere and could not devote himself to the work of NSU. In both periods, an acting national youth leader was appointed in von Schalburg’s place. In the first period in 1940, von Schalburg was in Finland to participate on the Finnish side in the struggle against the Soviet Union. When he came home Denmark was occupied by Germany, and von Schalburg wasdepressed. In the second period, von Schalburg joined the Waffen-SS and fought against the Communists on the Eastern Front. Here he was killed in action on 2 June 1942 as commander of the Frikorps Danmark [Free Corps Denmark].

On 15 September 1943 the new leader of NSU Hans Jensen separated NSU from DNSAP. NSU now received its funding directly from the occupying power and the economy and the level of activity could be increased. NSU had in the early war years been plagued by infighting, but with Hans Jensen’s appointment to national youth leader after von Schalburg, these power struggles died silently..

On 15 March 1945, the war was coming to an end, and NSU again became a part of DNSAP. DNSAP had for a long time been dissolving, and NSU slowly dissolved thereafter.

The girls had their own organisation: NSUP – Nationalsocialistisk Ungdoms Piger [Nationalsocialist Youth’s Girls] – but that’s another story.

NSU uniforms

NSU uniforms:

Until October 1940:
Brown shirt
Brown short trousers
Armband on left upper arm with white swastica on a red cirleround field. Swastica later replaced by a sunwheel.

After October 1940:
Black shirt
Black short trousers (long trousers in winter)
Black leather belt with strap
Black coat with shoulderstraps and collar
Red scarf
Danish army model garison cap with a white tassel (as used by the Danish Royal Guard)
Red armband wiht white sunwheel on left upper arm

This was very interesting, thank you very much for posting!
Was the NSU the only tolerated Danish youth movement during the war?
And was the DNSAP the only national-socialist orientated party in Denmark?

Landsungdomsfoerer Erik Laerum

As the leader of the National Socialist Youth (Nationalsocialistisk Ungdom - NSU) C.F. von Schalburg in autum 1940 volunteer to serve in the Waffen SS, the party must find a temporary replacement. C.F. von Schalburg has rapidly changed NSU from a scouting organization into a military-political preparatory school for the Waffen-SS. DNSAP looks for a new leader who can lead the with the same enthusiasm as Schalburg. The choice falls on Erik Laerum (Danish Airforce pilot).

1 November 1940 Erik Laerum becomes acting National Youth Leader of the NSU. He travels around the country and holds numerous speeches to promote the NSU and the Nazi ideas. Membership in NSU is rising steadily and the relationship with the occupying Germans is good.

Erik Laerums popularity is becoming problematic for the party. There is no doubt that Laerum is a man with political ambitions. After only two months he detaches the NSU from the party and make it independent. Members must pay contributions directly to NSU. Laerum agrees with the German leaders in Denmark, that their contribution to the NSU now must go directly to NSU and not via DNSAP first. DNSAP leader Frtiz Clausen is not happy about the situation.

When in the late summer 1941, Erik Laerum disagrees with C.F. von Schalburg (still in the Waffen-SS) his time in DNSAP is about end, and 6 September 1941 he resigns from the party. Three days later he was officially expelled from the party.